Fiddling with project cars in a party atmosphere.

Charger Project: Removing the Engine and Transmission

This weekend found a lot of friends of Garage Woolery visiting for our Summer Tech Day. Many of them pitched in to help with the Charger project, helping us to remove the entire front end off the car: engine, transmission, K frame, and front suspension were all removed in one day.

The method we used for this removal may seem a bit unorthodox, but is the correct way to remove the involved systems. Unlike the classic method of using an engine hoist to lift the engine out of the engine bay, we basically did the reverse procedure used by the factory to install the suspension and drivetrain. At the factory, the engine, transmission, and suspension were installed by lowering the body onto the K-frame/engine/transmission/front suspension as a unit. Aside from ancillary connections (hoses, electronics, etc). the entire drivetrain is held in by just 5 major bolts! After disconnecting all the ancillary bits, we were able to simply lower the engine to the floor using a couple of hydraulic jacks. Then we lifted the front end of the car to make room for the whole assembly to slide out from under the car!

Once we had the assembly out from under the car, we installed special caster wheels that mount to the frame rail using the same bolt holes previously used to support the k-frame assembly. Then the car was lowered onto the casters, allowing the body to be pushed around the garage at will without needing jack stands.

Next step: We’ll be sending the Charger body to Blackbird Fabworx to have a custom suspension upgrade installed, as well as some serious chassis stiffening, seam welding, and a custom cage install!